Local hosts to RVing friends, take note! September is a gorgeous month to visit Kelowna in an RV. Through our media relations program, we were recently visited by an RVing journalist on assignment with a popular international RV publication. He asked my advice in planning his stay in our area. The heat was on! I wanted him to be no less blown-away by our destination as our hotel-vacationing guests, and alas, my knowledge of RV sites was skinny. Thankfully I have some well-informed colleagues at Tourism Kelowna’s Visitor Centre who would surely point me in the right direction. After a search through our database of RV sites and peppering my colleagues with questions about each site (and let me tell you, there were several excellent contenders – no wonder we get so many RVers in Kelowna), I went with Canyon Farms RV in East Kelowna.

The verdict? I chose well. So well, in fact, that I learned all about the caring and thoughtful additional touches that Lesley and Michael give to their customers in an enthusiastic review by my journalist guest. I had chosen the location based partially on proximity to Gallagher’s Canyon Golf Club (the RV site backs onto Gallagher’s 10th fairway), as well as proximity to the Myra Canyon trailhead (the RV site is about 2 kilometers from the Myra Trestles turn-off).

What I didn’t bank on was how accommodating Lesley would be when our wayward RVer had arrived a day early on a sold-out weekend, finding him a temporary spot for the night before moving him to his reserved site the following day. Or how pleasantly close this RV site is to the scenic canyon and Mission Creek Greenway trail (literally steps away). Or how every RV guest receives basket of farm fresh eggs (brown ones and blue ones) each morning to enjoy as breakfast – courtesy of the farm’s laying hens.

Customers may even choose to purchase free range chicken meat direct from the farm for their dinner menu, along with the vegetables they may collect from the farm garden, in what can only be described as a 100-foot diet! And then there is the magnificent Dahlia field that faces the RV sites – the pet project of owner/gardener Lesley Reid.

In total, Canyon Farms RV Park has 8 sites available to RVers. The sites are full-hook up sites with water and sewer. The setting is both peaceful and convenient: a handful of boutique wineries are in the neighbourhood along the East Kelowna Wine Trail. With the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival coming up soon, you might well have friends coming to town to camp and enjoy the wine festival and winery tours. If you do, you might want to send them to our Camping section on the Tourism Kelowna website. Many of our RV sites are set within farm settings or within orchards, allowing for a camping experience that is classically Okanagan, and each offering its own unique experience. Farm fresh eggs sometimes included.

Catherine is the Media Relations Manager for Tourism Kelowna and is dedicated to building Kelowna's intrigue as a travel destination through her work with the travel media. In her role she is fortunate to find out about Kelowna's many secret gems attractions, activities, and interesting people that are a surprise for travel media, tourists, and even for residents. This column gives her the chance to share with you the many things that make Kelowna unique and unforgettable so that you can glean ideas of places to visit or take guests when they come to town.